I’ve now checked out the crests I was shown at The Original Miami Beach Antiques Show using Crestfinder (the magical and unique function on myfamilysilver.com). I’ll start with an armorial I saw on a smart pair of silver tureen covers offered by one of the dealers (as shown here):
As you can see, the crest consists of the upper figure of a woman holding a tower and some sort of plant. A search in crestfinder (which I can do, but you can’t yet…) using the simple terms “woman, castle†turns up a couple of crests including, as you can see, the one (on the left) we were looking at:
This crest, with small variations, is carried by a number of families including Aitkinson and Bailey. However, by checking the motto below the engraved armorial (“Cause caused itâ€) against the results we can (hey presto!) firmly attribute the crest to the Elphinstone family as shown here:
Now the dealer has a whole new way of promoting and adding value to his item (and the Elphinstones can buy back the family silver). Pretty cool, isn’t it?
Soon: Another crest challenge from Miami….
John Culme, who for many years has been connected with Sotheby's Silver Department, is author of several books and articles, including The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1838-1914, published in 1987, and co-author with Nicholas Rayner of The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. He is also a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company, London.
